Writerly Ways

[cornerofmadness]

It's that time of year. I'm too tired for thinking about the craft so let's do this. Let's make now a good time to set some 2026 goal as many or as few as you'd like. I know that can be pressure for some. For me I find them helpful. I've been at it too long to get too worked up if I can't make a goal. If you like some accountability you can still sign up for these

Challenge yourself to write 75000 words or more in 2026!

inkingitout offers low key and supportive weekly check ins to help you as you try to write 75,000 or more words in 2026.

Sign ups now open! Sign ups close Noon GMT 3rd January 2026.

or getyourwordsout and if those are too high pressure join us for Write Every Day which is super low pressure and bounces from host journal to host journal (if interested just ask me where it's at this week)

If you're looking for an online critique group (also low pressure) that leans into the urban fantasy/SF/horror/mystery genres again just ask me. I'm looking for people to join us. All I ask is if you decide it's not for you, just let me know, no harm no foul.


As for my goals they are as follows

1. keep looking for open calls, especially for the stories languishing in files

2. finish editing the 1980s monster hunter thing and get it to a beta (same as last year)

3. deep edit the werewolf novel which I finally DID start this year (after years of saying I would and didn't) but found out it was in worse shape than I thought

4. even though I said I wouldn't do this again, I DO want to take my thought monster long short story and expand it to a novella to make it more marketable

5. keep working on the sequel to the 1980s story

6. Decide if I ever want to do another story as Jana Denardo

7. I have so many unfinished novels. maybe I should finish one.

8. Do BETTER at balancing fanfic and original fic and the time spent on both

That seems like a nice fat set of goals. How about you? Let's do this. And if you worry about are you good enough, let me point out I'm currently watching Sharkopus and it makes Sharknado look like Oscar Worthy material. If this crap can make it, there's hope for us all.

Open Calls


Fairy Tale Magazine: January 2026 Window Green Man/Woman, Dryad, Yaksha, Tree Spirit



Crepuscular Magazine Microfiction stories exploring places, characters, and questions buried in the gray areas between


Untitled Anthology About Teeth Eerie, or creepy, or Gothic stories about Teeth

Inner Worlds, January 2026 Window. Science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror prose with a strong emotional or psychological focus.

Horrific Scribblings New Year’s Apocalypse Challenge New Year’s Apocalyptic stories (particularly the apocalyptic fears that defined the transition into the current millennium)!

The Ranger’s Almanac Winter 2025 Window. Short stories that must relate to a forest or park in any genre

30 Magazines Accepting Flash Fiction


From Around the Web


The Difference Between Tricking Your Reader and Surprising Your Reader

Easy Podcast Promotion for Writers

Comps Can Clinch Your Query

How to Track Book Sales and Identify Your Most Profitable Channels

How To Legally Quote Song Lyrics in Your Book

How To Get Book Reviews

How to Format a Book for Publishing

Optimizing Your Amazon Meta Description

Marketing Planning For First-Time Authors

From Betty

Writing a Short Story vs a Novel

Six Common Villain Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them

Seven Common Causes of Reader Confusion

Five Common Motivation Issues and How to Address Them

here.

Busy Writers: When Does “So Much” Become “Too Much?”

Transforming Negative Traits into Powerful Character Arcs

That Blinking Cursor

Panning For Gold

See Why Three Types of Character Motivation Matter

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus: Maladaptive Fantasy

What happens when family and friends don't support your writing?

YouTube for Writers, Part 4: Editing Tips to Improve Your Videos

Why Writers Grow Outside Their Comfort Zone: The Power of Discomfort in the Writing Life

How to Begin Your Novel at the Beginning


And of course have a blessed Solstice!

Comments

[spikedluv]

That sounds like a good list of goals! Good luck with them all.

[cornerofmadness]

thank you

[kitarella_imagines]

I can't see the picture, probably due to the UK laws, but have a blessed Solstice yourself! 💖

[cornerofmadness]

no doubt

hope yours was good too

[kitarella_imagines]

So far it's been a good one, hopefully stays the same all season.

[cornerofmadness]

here's hoping

[lilly_c]

I'm doing both again and I've gone for 250,000 words on inkingitout with needing stretch goals most years and 120 days habits on getyourwordsout.

copied from a f-locked cut tag :)
This is my wee list for next year and it might change a little bit but then again. The main one will be being in love with you (is like...) becuase I have some fics for it from this year that if I can get my brain to cooperate I'll try and get something posted from it even if it means using the backdate option for crossposting to archives. I have kinda miss playing in my little fluffly angsty ever so slightly canon divergence AU "what if... in this ep/before ep/after ep" secret relationship missing scenes. I have to finish my re-read of Mosaic for when I get to the fics and meta for the Seska eps because those are likely to be heavy and need a few warnings adding to my headers, reading a book and making notes at the same time takes me so long because slow poke.

Prompt tables - I've really culled all of the ones I've built up over the years and only kept the ones that I feel like I can do a little something for any prompt and most of what I did cull had a lot of repeated prompts likely with them been the same challenge or same mods each time. I'm pretty sure my in use tag only has five or six uses and the not in use tag has several pages worth because I couldn't quite bring myself to delete them and contribute to link rot by doing so.

GYWO build-a-bingo - I've got two prompts from 2024 and those fics are for BILWY(IL...) so they'll eventually be ready to post. I've got fifteen prompts from 2025 *gestures to the state of the year* and some fics are started, others are in outline and thinky stages and I'm just gonna see how long it takes me to get more fic done for it, maybe combine them with other prompts too.

fan_flashworks - while I'm still not impressed with the allowing AI/LLM generated into the rules/faq, I'll maybe stick around for a bit longer because they do have good prompts and the amnesty rounds are useful for getting a small pile of fills build up ready to post. I also have a ton of badges to request at some point too and reach my 100 works posted, I think I'm on 86 or 87 at the moment.

Archives - I may still crosspost to them but with various *gestures* nonsense with bots, scammers etc I'm just not sure anymore. Of course everything will always be available at alittleimprobable including things that don't ever end up on archives at all, subscribe to it or track tags, whichever works better for you and posting varies from several times a month to nothing at all for months.

[cornerofmadness]

Good luck with it all. Hope it's a stellar writing year

[cmk418]

Sharktopus is terrible but it's so terrible, it's fun. Our cable company dropped Syfy, so there won't be any rewatches of it in the immediate future for me.

Good luck with your goals for 2026!

[cornerofmadness]

Sharktopus is terrible

too bad about Syfy

thanks

[suzume]

I think I always have the same hopes for each coming year:

1. Write more.
2. Draw more.

lmao

[cornerofmadness]

Nothing wrong with keeping it short and to the point

[suzume]

Ha ha, I haven't done as much as I would like to in either category since recovering from cancer, but, hey, anything is better than nothing, I figure.

[cornerofmadness]

Yes it is

[suzume]

^_^